Japan plans to have 8 operational spy satellites by next decade

Japan is planning to boost the number of intelligence gathering satellites in operation from the current four to eight by fiscal 2023.

By 20nana75 (squared by Juan Pablo Arancibia Medina) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

At the moment, Japan has three optical spy satellites in orbit and a same number of synthetic aperture radar satellites. Four are operational, one is on standby while the last one has exceeded its operational lifespan.

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